This invention relates to new and useful improvements in spark plug socket wrenches.
For many years there has been a real need for a much more effective tool to perform the routine maintenance job of changing spark plugs, especially in recent years the modern engine compartments have become cluttered with electronics, wires, hoses and peripheral equipment causing spark plugs to be extremely difficult to work on.
The tool available to mechanics through the years, known as a "spark plug socket", is nothing more than a deep socket wrench having a rubber or plastic grommet inside, used as a spark plug gripping device, where the non-metallic terminal end insulator of the spark plug is forced into the grommet, as the means of holding a spark plug in the socket of the wrench. The terminal end insulator is not the same for all spark plugs, causing several problems for mechanics.
This so-called spark plug socket has at times seemed to cause more problems than it solved, but has been the only tool available, that has a chance to hold a spark plug in the socket long enough to lift the plug out of, or lower it into an engine compartment safely. More often the spark plugs fall from the socket to be wedged among engine equipment, or to clatter across the floor, in either case wasting valuable time. The old sockets are awkward to use, their large size making it necessary to remove; then reinstall peripheral engine equipment, just to change a spark plug. Also this wastes more valuable time and risks damage to the equipment being removed and replaced.
Over the years mechanics have developed "tricks of the trade", or found gimmicks to help get the job done. At times these gimmicks cause frustration, always costing time, but they help get the job done. Once in awhile a mechanic will buy another "spark plug socket" trying to find one that will do the job better, only to have the same problems.
Accordingly, an objective of our invention is to provide an improved spark plug socket wrench that will securely and consistently hold any spark plug in the socket without fear of it falling out, until the mechanic wants it to come out.
Another objective of our invention is to provide an improved socket wrench that prevents cracking or breaking the non-metallic terminal end insulator.
Another objective of our invention is to provide an improved socket wrench small enough to be maneuvered between peripheral equipment, thereby minimizing the need to remove and replace unrelated equipment, saving time for the mechanics.
Another and the primary objective of our invention is to provide an improved socket wrench made in the U.S.A., that will perform the mechanical process of removing, inserting and applying torque more efficiently and effectively than any tool made anywhere in the world.
Our invention, an Improved Spark Plug Socket Wrench, described in the Description and specification, accomplishes all of these objectives and more.